em>By Jeffrey Bernstein, Associated Press /em>
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dennis Schroder had 19 points and 10 assists, Dwight Howard added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks won their season-high seventh straight game with a 117-97 victory Tuesday night (Wednesday, PHL time) over the skidding Brooklyn Nets.
Paul Millsap added 14 points for Atlanta, which led the entire way. Kris Humphries had 13, Malcolm Delaney scored 12 and Thabo Sefolosha finished with 10.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points for the Nets, who have lost seven straight and 12 of 13. Bojan Bogdanovic added 16 and Sean Kilpatrick 14.
Caris LeVert (11 points) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (10) also scored in double digits for Brooklyn.
Lopez's three-pointer brought the Nets to 89-78 with 9:44 left. But the Hawks responded with a 24-8 run and opened their largest lead of the night, 113-86, on Taurean Prince's two free throws with 2:02 remaining.
The Nets began the third quarter on a 15-7 run and pulled to 68-58 on Kilpatrick's bucket with 6:28 left.
Atlanta scored the next four points and had an 86-70 lead after three.
The Hawks went up 25-15 on Tim Hardaway Jr.'s three-pointer with 5:28 left in the opening quarter. Back-to-back three’s by Bogdanovic sparked an 8-0 run as the Nets pulled within two.
That was as close as they got the rest of the way as Atlanta went on to lead 35-29 after the first quarter.
The Hawks increased their lead to 61-41 on Kent Bazemore's two free throws with 1:39 left in the second before settling for a 61-43 halftime lead.
strong>COACHING ROOTS /strong>
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson was a Hawks assistant for four years, the last three (2013-16) under current Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer. 'This is special. Relationships are what make the world go round. I learned a lot from Bud. He always challenged me. He pushed me to be a better coach,' Atkinson said.
strong>TIP-INS /strong>
em> strong>Hawks: /strong> /em> Schroder is the only Atlanta player to start all 38 games this season.
em> strong>Nets: /strong> /em> Trevor Booker, the team's leading rebounder (nine per game), did not play due to a bruised left hip. Quincy Acy, who signed a 10-day contract, played the final 1:17 and scored four points. 'I'll come out here and prove myself and try to stick around,' he said before the game. Acy took the roster spot of Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft (by Cleveland) who was waived by the Nets on Monday (Tuesday, PHL time).
strong>OH, WHAT A NIGHT /strong>
Dec. 26, 2016 (Dec. 27, PHL time), is a significant date for both teams. On that Monday night (Tuesday, PHL time), the Hawks lost to the Timberwolves 104-90 and the Nets defeated the Hornets 120-118. Atlanta has not lost another game since then and the Nets have not won another one.
strong>TWO YEARS EARLIER /strong>
On the same date in 2014, the Hawks lost to Milwaukee 107-77. Atlanta immediately followed that defeat with a franchise-record 19-game winning streak.
strong>UP NEXT /strong>
em> strong>Hawks: /strong> /em> Atlanta hosts Boston on Friday (Saturday, PHL time). The teams have not met yet this season. They will play again on Feb. 27 in Boston and April 6 in Atlanta. The Hawks won the season series 3-1 last year.
em> strong>Nets: /strong> /em> Brooklyn hosts New Orleans on Thursday (Friday, PHL time). The teams have not met yet this season. They will play again on Jan. 20 (Jan. 21, PHL time) in New Orleans. The Pelicans have won the last five games in the series. .....»»

em>By Brian Mahoney, Associated Press /em>
NEW YORK (AP) — Joel Embiid is no longer just trusting the process. Now he's talking about the playoffs.
Embiid scored 20 points and the Philadelphia 76ers earned their 10th victory to match their total from all last season, beating the Brooklyn Nets 105-95 on Sunday (Monday, PHL time).
The 76ers broke it open with a 17-2 surge in the fourth quarter to win the matchup between the NBA's two worst teams and improve to 10-25 in their first season with former lottery picks Embiid and Dario Saric. They were 10-72 in 2015-16, just off their own record for worst finish in the 82-game schedule.
Embiid has looked at the standings and seen the 76ers are eight games back of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, and believes that should be a goal.
'I think we have a chance. We've been hot lately,' he said. 'We've won three out of four lately, so I look at it and I think we have a chance and we're really figuring things out. We're starting to learn how to win games.'
Embiid did his damage without even reaching the 28-minute restriction he was limited to as he recovers from a series of foot injuries that delayed his NBA debut for two years. He left the court to chants of 'Trust the Process!' in a nod to what he and others reminded fans while the Sixers lost big during Sam Hinkie's rebuilding plan.
Even as the victories come, coach Brett Brown said the building process remains most important.
'We are winning basketball games more frequently than we have been, but for us it's still, how are we doing what we do?' Brown said. 'Are we doing our job? Are we not skipping steps? Are we putting in good days? And we believe as simple as that might sound that they will add up.'
Saric added 18 points, while Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas each had 15.
Brook Lopez scored 26 points for the Nets (8-28), who have lost six in a row.
The Nets led by 11 at halftime, but the Sixers scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to take their first lead at 59-57 on a jumper by Embiid. They opened the second half with a 30-9 spurt and went into the fourth ahead 78-73.
'I just didn't feel like that third quarter, it's like, 'Why isn't our energy the same?'' Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Brooklyn recovered to take an 85-84 edge but it was all Sixers from there, closing their spurt with 13 straight points to make it 101-87 on Covington's 3-pointer.
strong>TIP-INS /strong>
em> strong>76ers: /strong> /em>Sergio Rodriguez returned after a three-game absence with a sprained left ankle, but T.J. McConnell remained the starter after recording a career-high 17 assists Friday (Saturday, PHL time) at Boston. Brown stopped short of saying it would stay that way long-term or even that McConnell would play the starter's share of the minutes, but praised his play in Rodriguez's absence. McConnell missed his first seven shots but finished with six assists and eight rebounds.
em> strong>Nets: /strong> /em>The Nets fell to 7-2 against the 76ers at Barclays Center, their most wins against any team. Starting forward Trevor Booker left after just three minutes of the second half with a bruised left hip. The Nets originally ruled him out for the remainder of the game, but he returned with 4:36 to play.
strong>NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN /strong>
The 76ers spent their Saturday night in New York at the Broadway musical 'Hamilton,' the winner of 11 Tony Awards in 2016 that uses hip-hop music to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton and America's founding fathers.
'Team stuff like that, growing a culture, building a program off the floor, that stuff matters to us,' Brown said, 'and I think it's just one other example of just things you try to do with a team to just grow a program and grow a culture and it was a wonderful day.'
strong>UP NEXT /strong>
em> strong>76ers: /strong> /em> Host New York on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time), the first meeting this season.
em> strong>Nets: /strong> /em> Host Atlanta on Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time), Atkinson's first time coaching against the team where he was an assistant the previous four seasons. .....»»